Jewelry and method of mounting precious stones



JEWELRY AND METHOD OF MOUNTING PRECIOUS STONES Filed Aug. 23, 1940 'l ll H INVENTOR t if '& L 3o.

ATTORN 5 Patented Dec. 9, 1941 t UNITE STATES metosmos- JEWELRY AND METHOD OF MOUNTING I PRECIOUS'STONES Ernest G. H. Schenck, Wilton, Conn.

Application August 23, 1940, Serial No. 353,830

5 Claims.

This invention relates to jewelry and more particularly to jewelry comprised primarily of precious stones, especially that comprised of precious stones having highly refractive characteristics, such as diamonds and the like, and to methods of mounting. the stones.

It is an object of my invention to mount such "stones so as to give greatest prominence to the stone itself, rather than to the setting and to produce a minimum of impairment to the brilliance and other light characteristics of the stones.

It is another object of the invention to produce a mounting which will utilize the full available surface of the stone for displaying its brilliance, but which will nevertheless be so secured to its setting that the stone will be firmly held in place against any normal force.

It is another object of this invention to avoid any grooving or slotting of the stone below the girdle or plane of maximum width.

It is another object of my invention to keep the stone away from the surface of the skin of the wearer so as to protect the wearer from irritation and to protect the stone from the oils, condensation and other substances present on the skin, whereby to preserve its full brilliance.

It is another object of my invention to avoid introducing any irregularities in the facets of the stone which would impair the brilliance.

It is another object of my invention to effectively hide the metal parts of the setting.

It is still another object of my invention to avoid wide spaces between stones when a number of stones are incorporated'in a necklace or a bracelet which is to be subjected to considerable flexing.

It is another object of my invention to avoid pinching of the skin of the wearer between the parts or elements of a bracelet or necklace when flexing occurs. Y

Other objects of my invention will become apparent from the following specification and the accompanying drawing, which are to be taken as merely exemplary of my invention and intended to enable others skilled in the art to reproduce it. Numerous constructional features and changes may be made from the particular embodiment shown without departing from the scope of my invention.

In the drawing:

Fig. l is a view partly in elevation and partly in vertical section showing a stone mounted in a ring in accordance with my invention;

Fig. 2 is a view partly in plan and partly in horizontal section: showing the same mounting as Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the mounting alone on the ring;

Fig. 4 is a view partly broken away, in side elevation, of an articulated bracelet or chain, made. in accordance with my invention; and

Fig. 5 isa bottom view of a bracelet or chain suchasi is shown in Fig. 4.

Referring first to Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawing, I have shown a stone, such as a diamond I, held in a ring setting 2 by means of the metal fingers 3. I have provided narrow slots cut into the edge of the diamond or other stone at right angles to the girdle at the points 5 on the one side and at corresponding points on the other side.

It is important that the slots 5 are out in rectilinear relationship to the adjacent girdle, and I have found that it is this relationship which avoids the impairment of brilliance which would otherwise occur if a notch were made into the girdle of the stone.

The metal fingers 3 after passing through the slots 5 are turned over at their ends just enough to grip the stone. As may be seen, the band 4 is close beneath the girdle 88 of the stone so that it is hidden from the top.

As may be clearly seen in Fig. 2, in the upper left-hand corner of the stone which is shown in elevation, the only part of the setting which can be seen from above is that part of each member 3 which extends into the slot and which is overturned to hold the stone in the setting.

Fig. 3 shows the setting alone before a stone has been mounted in it. The ends of the fingers 3 may secure the stone by bending or upsetting in the slots 5 or by any other means.

Figs. 4 and 5 show a number of stones set according to my invention in a necklace or bracelet. In this case, the yoke members l3 are connected between opposite fingers 3a at right angles to the direction of flexing of the bracelet, the fingers 3a being thus reinforced against bending out of the slots 5. Other reinforcing or framework may be used beneath the stone and hidden by it. In the example of Figs. 4 and 5, the fingers 3a at one end of each stone are not connected with the fingers 3a at the other end of the same stone by any bracing, but are prevented from relative movement in the direction which would loosen the stone by the cross members I3. There is, of course, no opportunity for the mounting to pull apart longitudinally of the chain, since the fingers 3a are secured at their inner ends to the frame 55 20, and are secured at their outer ends in the slots 5, where the stone itself resists any longitudinal spreading of the mounting. Adjacent sections of the bracelet or necklace are held together by the split sleeve l5, or in any of the usual methods known in the jewelry art.

While I have shown a square cut stone in the drawing, any of the well known cuts can be used. For example, the stone might be rectangular cut, emerald cut, triangular cut, or any one of many other cuts well known in the art.

What I claim is:

1. As an article of jewelry the combination of a precious stone cut and polished to a gem form and having opposed narrow slots through its girdle the surfaces of which are in rectilinear relation to the adjacent portions of the girdle, and a mounting having narrow fingers attached to a rigid base at one end and their other ends lying in said slots and engaging said stone.

2. An article of jewelry comprising precious stone cut and polished to gem form and having opposed narrow slots through its girdle with the surfaces thereof in rectilinear relation to the adjacent portions of the girdle respectively a base, more than two opposed spaced narrow fingers extending from said base, the tips of each finger extended into said slot and being turned inwardly for engaging the stone and rigid means eneath and spaced from the stone for connecting opposed fingers at a position above said base, said rigid means tying the members of each pair against spreading which would permit removal of the stone therefrom.

3. As an article of jewelry, the combination as defined in claim 1, in which all the mounting is below the girdle of the stone excepting the narrow fingers which extend through the slots and hold the stone in place.

4. An article of jewelry which comprises in combination a plurality of rectangularly cut precious stones, a mounting holding each of said stones and lying substantially entirely beneath it, an articulated joint connecting each pair of adjacent mountings so that their respective stones are heldv with adjacent sides of their girdles parallel and closely spaced, said articulated joint being near and parallel to said adjacent sides of the girdles of the stones, whereby when adjacent mountings hinge with respect to one another the edges of the stones remain close together.

5. An article of jewelry which comprises a plurality of stones, each stone having a simple polygonal girdle with one side thereof closely spaced from and parallel to a side of the girdle of an adjacent stone, and the girdles of adjacent stones being closely spaced, and a mounting for each stone, the mountings of said adjacent stones being hinged together just below the adjacent girdles of the stones.

ERNEST G. H. SCHENCK. 

